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Jer 20:9. In verse 9 Jeremiah describes the effect of the things that he learns from the Lord as “burning fire” in his heart. How can critics maintain that Jeremiah views the heart as an untrustworthy receptacle of divine messages?

Some critics of LDS methodology suggests that in this passage Jeremiah is merely describing the zeal and passion he has for preaching the word of God. In this interpretation, the “burning fire” in Jeremiah’s heart is not an indication of truth from God, but is an emotional desire to teach God’s word. That begs the question as to where such a feeling originated; did it originate from God or from Jeremiah? One can be assured that it is from God, for that is how Jeremiah understands it. Jeremiah directly attributes the “burning fire” in his heart to the fact that the word of the Lord was shut up in his bones. Would that feeling have existed had it not been the true word of the Lord? That is doubtful, and Jeremiah does not even consider the possibility.

After determining to no longer speak the words of truth, God, an exterior agent, encourages Jeremiah on by rekindling Jeremiah’s heart. Evangelical scholar A. R. Faussett agrees that the burning in Jeremiah’s heart was “the divine afflatus or impulse to speak" (see link below). Jeremiah’s burning in the bosom is similar to, if not precisely what, LDS claim to experience.

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Jer 16:16. Is the fishers = missionaries interpretation wresting this passage? See this post at the BCC blog.

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